I think I may have a mantis shrimp in my tank. I came back from a short vacation to find half of my tank water on the floor and a large crack down one side of the tank. I can see no reason at all for the crack. Is it possible that it was caused a mantis shrimp? I have been hearing the clicking noises for a while now but never know what it was until somebody suggested it was a mantis shrimp and may be what caused the crack. Seems a bit unlikely.
Mantis shrimp
- Thread starter Brightsbane
- Start date
If you've been hearing the clicking and now have a cracked tank, you're seeing the evidence. I've never had one (knock on wood) but from everything I've heard about them, they're not the easiest thing in the world to find when they're in your tank.
Hope most things survived if you didn't get lucky and have all of it survive.. If you rebuild, better quarantine your rock to try and find it..
And obviously, be very careful... I wouldn't try catching it by hand....
Its very unlikely that a mantis did this. It would have to be big to crack the glass, although it has happened in the past. I am not denying that it could be a mantis but look for other evidence as well the clicking could have been from a pistol shrimp too, there are ways to tell depending on how many clicks you hear and if they are in succesion or not.
fishfanatic2":1emvqb9r said:
I didnt say it wasnt impossible I said itwas unlikely. A mantics would have to be a pretty decent size to crack the glass and he didnt say he saw it before. Glass tube heater have very thin glass as well aquarium glass is way thicker than that. I have heard pistols click in succesion (3-34 Times in a row) and mantis are more sparatic. How big is your tank??
4ft x 18in x 18in. Approx 250 litres. I'm from Australia so I don't know what that is in gallons. Pine stand, pine hood. 2 x fluro lights inside hood. Undergravel filter, Fluval 203 canister, skimer, heater, approx 20lb LR, 2 inch crushed coral substrate, 2 x damsels, 1 x lunare wrasse & 1 x clicking alien.
I used to have a blue sea star but found it was progressively getting more and more chewed up. I thought it was the wrasse, but maybe it was the mantis. No wonder it was avoiding the LR.
I used to have a blue sea star but found it was progressively getting more and more chewed up. I thought it was the wrasse, but maybe it was the mantis. No wonder it was avoiding the LR.
Although it's possible - it has happened in public displays this is a rare incident in most cases. In Florida live rock most of the mantis you will get of a clubber variety are going to be maybe 2" max length. They would have to work very hard to crack your glass - larger species like the peacock mantis (Ontodactylus scyllarus) commonly sold as pets are capable of it when they get larger - a thin 10 gallon tank? Yes it's possible if it was any decent thickness glass and a small shrimp I would look elsewhere for enviromental stresses that may have caused the crack.
I have kept smaller tropical atlantic species like Neogonodactylus wennerae and the larger Indo-Pac Peacock in the past - both can strike with considerable force but the glass breaking thing is overblown IMO. Go read some of the older threads on the RC mantis forum where Dr. Roy Caldwell speaks about this and dispels the myth that it's so common.
You'd swear this hobby was a religion sometimes the way people believe myths and anecdotal evidence repeated over and over as 'fact'.
I have kept smaller tropical atlantic species like Neogonodactylus wennerae and the larger Indo-Pac Peacock in the past - both can strike with considerable force but the glass breaking thing is overblown IMO. Go read some of the older threads on the RC mantis forum where Dr. Roy Caldwell speaks about this and dispels the myth that it's so common.
You'd swear this hobby was a religion sometimes the way people believe myths and anecdotal evidence repeated over and over as 'fact'.
YOur tanks is a little over 66 gals. Which means the glass in your tank is around a 1/4 - 1/3 inch thick. This would have to be super mantis to break it. Most of the stories that were told are of Peacock mantis's in little 10 gall aquariums. Like Tech and I said check for other evidence of stress and listen to the clicks more closely next time still could be a pistol shrimp
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